Schaumburg Schools Laying Off 123 Teachers To Trim Expenses

March 30, 1990|By John Lucadamo.

Faced with a budget shortfall estimated at $5.5 million, the board of Schaumburg Township Elementary School District 54 voted Thursday night to send layoff notices to 188 employees, including 123 teachers.

The board`s decision on layoffs came nine days after voters soundly rejected the board`s request for an increase in the education fund tax rate, which pays for teacher salaries and other classroom expenses. The district`s budget had been projected at about $80 million for the next school year.

Board President Vicki Harms said before the vote that the staff reductions are ``only one piece of the total plan`` to reduce expenditures. The board is ``not balancing the budget solely by cutting staff members.``

Additional reductions in expenses will be made through program cuts, which the board will begin considering in the next several weeks.

Supt. William Kritzmire said that while there were no administrative cuts made Thursday, there will be reductions in the central office staff.

Both Kritzmire and Harms expressed hope that the board would be able to rehire some of the staff given layoff notices.

District 54 employs more than 1,000 people who hold teaching certificates, most of them in classrooms. It is the state`s largest elementary school district, with 15,500 pupils from kindergarten through 8th grade.

It is far from certain that all the employees notified will lose their jobs, because the district will likely receive additional tax revenue, projected at between $7 million and $8 million, based on the reassessment of the township`s real estate. That amount would make up for the shortfall, but Harms said the district would want to keep some of it in reserve to meet salary increases in later years.

If the increase is higher, the board could afford to retain more employees, Harms said. The exact amount will not be known until July, when the state`s equalization factor is set.

More than 250 people crowded into the board room to hear people such as teacher Mary Rittman urge the board to ``safeguard the lifeblood of the district: its people and programs.``

Pat Kane, a teacher and parent, said the main result of releasing teachers will be increased class sizes. ``I know what is lost in a crowded classroom. They`re not going to have the chance to go through kindergarten again,`` she said.

She urged the board to ``keep the teacher`` when faced with the choice of removing a teacher or cutting something else.

Of the 123 teachers who will be sent notices that they will not be re-employed, 76 are first-year non-tenured faculty members and 45 are second-year non-tenured teachers. Two tenured teachers will also be notified.

In addition to personnel cuts, the board plans to cut programs to operate within its budget after its request for a 99-cent tax rate increase was rejected.

Voters in District 54 also turned down a proposal to sell $135 million in construction bonds.